The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

In early August, news of the Prince of Lujiang's rebellion and death reached Chang'an. During the confiscation of his property, Chen Huai'an asked Li Shimin to sell him the turbid wine under the Prince of Lujiang's control.

Li Shimin agreed almost without hesitation.

After all, this was one of the few times Chen Huai'an made a request of him, and besides, he knew very well what this turbid wine was for.

When Wang Bai learned that his boss had changed to Chen Huai'an and Cheng Chumo, his expression was as if he had eaten a pile of rice; he was extremely uncomfortable.

But we have to accept this fact.

On this day, a eunuch suddenly approached Chen Huai'an.

"Sir, His Highness requests your presence."

Chen Huai'an was somewhat surprised. Li Shimin had rarely contacted him recently, and he wondered what was going on today.

"Okay, let's go."

"Sir, the carriage is ready. This way, please."

The eunuch led Chen Huai'an into a carriage outside, and they traveled without stopping until they arrived at the East Palace.

Guided by the eunuch, Chen Huai'an arrived at the Xiande Hall of the East Palace.

To his surprise, many familiar faces arrived one after another.

This included Changsun Wuji, Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and others.

Of course, Qin Qiong, Yuchi Gong, and others were also present.

Chen Huai'an laughed and said, "It seems that today's matter is no small thing."

Du Ruhui smiled and said, "These past few days, with the things Mr. Chen has brought out, Your Highness has changed many of the plans you had previously decided on. I suppose today you will make the final arrangements."

"The Turks?" Chen Huai'an asked.

Changsun Wuji sighed, "Now, the only one that Your Highness can take so seriously is the Turks."

"The internal strife has gradually subsided. Although there have been rebellions in various places during this period, none of them have caused too much of a stir, such as the rebellion of the Prince of Lujiang."

"Only by solving the problem of the Turks can we truly establish ourselves."

After the group talked for a while, a eunuch came out and said, "Gentlemen, His Highness invites you to come in."

Without hesitation, everyone entered Xiande Hall one after another.

Li Shimin was already seated at the head of the table, with rows of small tables arranged on either side below.

"Your Highness, we, your humble servants, pay our respects."

"No need for formalities, please take your seats." Li Shimin waved his sleeve, and his trusted confidants took their seats in order.

"Now it is August." Li Shimin said without any preamble, "From mid-June to July, and now to August, you are all well aware that the Turks have been eyeing us covetously, and recently they have been making moves."

"I have a premonition that the Turks will not let this great opportunity pass them by, and they will surely lead their army south."

"Huai'an pointed this out as early as June."

"What do you think is the best way for me to respond?"

"Your Highness!" Yuchi Gong said without hesitation, "If it were before, I would have advised you to avoid their sharp edge, even if it meant paying some money and suffering some humiliation, to give us a chance to catch our breath."

"Once the nation's strength is restored, we will launch a northern expedition to avenge the humiliation of the Wude Incident."

"But now..."

Yuchi Gong glanced at Chen Huai'an and clenched his fist tightly: "Mr. Chen pointed out this situation to us back in June. His Highness made preparations for it for two months. Mr. Chen even brought out weapons that can greatly enhance combat power, such as the Mo Dao, horseshoes, and improved horn bows."

"Furthermore, His Highness's speed in suppressing the rebellion and consolidating military power far exceeded expectations."

"Since we have the chance, let's fight them!"

"That's right!" Cheng Yaojin slammed his hand on the table. "If the Turks really dare to lead their army south, then we'll fight them!"

"With the current conditions, as long as we can harass the Turks on their way south and block them at key points."

"The longer it drags on, the worse the situation will be for them."

"We don't need to fight them to the death; we just need to stall them. We can do that."

"So there's no need to be afraid!"

Qin Qiong nodded: "We can contact Li Jing and other front-line generals in advance. Once we see the main force of the Turks heading south, we can immediately leave a portion of our troops to guard the border and then rush to Chang'an's aid."

"If we can hold back the main force of the Turks at this time, and wait for Li Jing and other front-line generals to lead the main force of the Tang army back to reinforce, then the situation between us and the Turks will be completely reversed."

"They're not attacking us; we're besieging them!"

Many people's eyes lit up when they heard this.

After listening, Li Shimin pondered for a moment, neither supporting nor opposing their views, and then asked the others, "What do you think?"

Zhang Gongjin shook his head and said, "That's not how it works. The purpose of the Turks' southward march is self-evident. They absolutely cannot occupy Chang'an, after all, Li Jing and others who control the main force of the Tang army are still leading troops on the front line."

"Once they want to occupy Chang'an, they will inevitably be besieged by the loyalist armies from all over the country. Therefore, they must be here to plunder, which is consistent with Jieli's character."

"So, they're just after money."

"But if we mobilize a large number of troops in Chang'an, including local garrison troops and General Xue's Changlin Army, and try to hold back the Turks."

"Isn't the risk too great?"

This statement won the approval of many people.

Because Li Shimin has now mainly solved the problem of Chang'an, while the old forces of the former crown prince Li Jiancheng have mostly remained in Hebei, Shandong and other regions.

If they choose to devote all their efforts to holding off the Turkic army, and then their rear is attacked, the consequences will be unimaginable.

In addition, there were still separatist forces north of Guanzhong, such as Liang Shidu, who were allied with the Turks, including Luo Yi, whom Chen Huai'an mentioned, who was also not honest.

Given all these issues, doing so would be too risky.

Li Shimin pondered and said, "That's right. We can't move all the troops in Chang'an. Of the 30,000 Imperial Guards currently guarding Chang'an, at least 20,000 should be left in Chang'an."

"In other words, if we try to block the Turks' route of attack, the only troops we can use are the former Crown Prince's and Prince Qi's troops, two thousand men, and the Southern Army troops, fifteen thousand men."

At this point, Li Shimin paused for a moment and glanced at Chen Huai'an as well: "Because of Pei Ji's downfall, the constraints on me have been greatly reduced, and I can also mobilize some of the local troops."

"Adding all of these together, I can probably mobilize about 30,000 men!"

"Among them, five thousand Mo Dao soldiers, along with warhorses urgently mobilized from various places, formed ten thousand cavalry, plus fifteen thousand garrison soldiers."

As the ministers listened, they gradually understood Li Shimin's thoughts.

Li Shimin did not approve of Yuchi Gong's method of using all his strength to hold back the Turks and force them to withdraw their troops, but he did not completely oppose it either.

His idea was to sacrifice some troops to ensure the stability of Chang'an as the central capital, and see if he could delay the Turkic attack.

On their crucial route south to Chang'an, the Tang army blocked their cavalry, forcing them to face the imminent return of the main Tang forces.

Changsun Wuji thought for a moment and said, "Your Highness, I agree with your idea, but we still need to discuss the specifics of how to implement it."

"For example, how exactly should we stop a total of 30,000 troops?"

"A direct confrontation would definitely be disadvantageous for us. If the Turks were to march south, they would certainly go all out. If not 200,000, they would definitely have 150,000 troops."

"With 30,000 troops, a direct confrontation with the Turks would only lead to certain death!"

Li Shimin nodded slightly, then asked, "Huai'an, what do you think?"

"..."